


Driven

by snowpuppies



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-04-04
Updated: 2009-04-04
Packaged: 2017-10-02 07:05:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowpuppies/pseuds/snowpuppies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kennedy knows what she wants. And she's gonna get it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Driven

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by [Kitty Poker](http://kitty-poker1.livejournal.com/).

  


 

  
The first thing Kennedy noticed about Willow was her eyes.

She was still mostly running in I'm-in-mortal-peril mode when she entered the Summers' residence—checking the exits, assessing each individual for strengths and possible weapons—when a pair of big, gorgeous green eyes stopped her in her tracks.

Finding someone to pair up with had been the furthest thing from her mind as she'd listened to her Watcher's instructions to head to Sunnydale, but in a split second her plans had changed.

Oh, she was still not-so-patiently waiting to be activated as a Slayer, but now she had quite the pleasant distraction in the meantime.

It didn't hurt that she had a thing for redheads.

Willow was skittish, and she could understand that; Kennedy would be the first to admit to coming on pretty strong, but she preferred to think of it as an asset.

When she found something she wanted, she went for it.

 

***

 

_Ecstatic, she ran across the room and threw herself on the bed, bouncing a little before sinking into the purple and blue duvet. _

Smiling, she held the red ribbon up in the air, the silvery medal twisting slightly above her head.

Second place.

In her first year in the nine to thirteen age division.

She couldn't believe she'd done so well in the tournament.

Beaming, she hopped off the bed and scrambled over to the dresser. Climbing onto the stool, she held the ribbon against the wall, first on one side of the mirror, then on the other.

She had to find the perfect spot.

"Kennedy, get down from there."

Eyes wide in surprise, she jumped from her perch and ran over to the doorway where her father was waiting.

"Look what I got!"

Her father took the ribbon from her hand, examining the medal carefully.

"Second place." Kneeling down, her father gripped her shoulders and pulled her close, his face inches from her own. "Kennedy, listen to me. I don't pay for karate lessons so that you can lose, so either you win the tournament next year or the lessons stop. Do you understand?"

Holding back a sob, Kennedy nodded.

"Good girl. Now put that away and get ready for bed. Your mother will come to wish you goodnight in a moment." With that, her father got to his feet and stalked down the hall.

Turning back towards the dresser, Kennedy looked at the medal a moment before gently folding the ribbon and tucking it behind the medallion. Opening a drawer, she dug through her socks and placed the medal at the bottom before slowly sliding the drawer shut.

Solemnly, she turned to gather her pajamas.

She couldn't believe she'd lost.

Setting her jaw, she stared at the girl, the loser, in the mirror.

She would never be that girl again; she'd win next year, no matter what she had to do.

 

***

 

She'd first noticed Willow's beauty, but other, even more admirable traits became apparent.

Willow was wickedly smart. She was kind and gentle and had a sweet sense of humor that made Kennedy smile in way that…she could never remember doing.

And then there was the mojo.

Okay, so _not_ what Kennedy had been expecting, and not really anything that she'd had much experience with, but it was kinda cool. At some times scary beyond all reason, but hey, she was nearly a Slayer, and if the rumors could be believed, Slayers went for supernatural, powerful and scary.

Of course, the fact that she was already a confirmed lesbian helped, too.

Otherwise, things just got…_sticky_.

 

***

 

_Taking a deep breath, Kennedy sighed, her eyes flickering shut for a moment as she collected herself._

She still felt like she'd swallowed a jar full of butterflies, but she'd done harder things than this; all she had to do was focus. She glanced around the corner; Allison was at her locker, smoothing her long, blonde hair. Kennedy couldn't help remembering how it felt: soft and silky between her fingers, light and feathery against her skin…

She couldn't wait to feel it again.

Self-consciously, she glanced down, smoothing out the pleats in her skirt, glancing behind to make sure it hadn't been tucked up in the back or something else hideously embarrassing. She hated wearing skirts—hadn't done so since the second grade, when a boy at school had teased her and she'd taken him down with a roundhouse to the chin.

It wasn't until the teasing started again that she realized she'd shown her panties to half the playground.

It had been six years since she'd put one on again. But she wanted something special—made her Mom take her out on Sunday afternoon just to purchase something girly—she wanted to look **pretty**.

She **felt** pretty.

Grinning, she rounded the corner and walked down the hall.

"Hey." She just knew she was grinning like an idiot.

"Oh,"—Allison's eyes flickered towards Kennedy's face for a moment before turning back to the mirror—"Hey…Kennedy."

"Hey." Oh, God. She **was** an idiot.

"Did you…need something?" Allison raised her eyebrows.

"Er…I was just wondering if you wanted to maybe get something to eat tonight or…we could watch a movie, or just, you know, hang out or something?"

"Kennedy," Allison grimaced, "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Oh. Well, we could do it tomorrow."

"Kennedy…I don't think we should hang out any more."

"But…Friday night…?"

"Friday night was a one-time thing. I mean, you didn't think that—?"

"Um…no! No, of course not. I just…"

"Look, my mom would freak. Totally. And I'd, like, be disowned or something."

"Oh."

Allison grabbed a book from her locker and shut the door. "It was…great. Really. But it's something that I can't do again. I'm…I'm sorry, Kennedy."

With a flip of blonde hair, she was gone.

Kennedy blinked, eyes watering, as she whirled away.

She was not going to cry.

As she stomped through the hallway, cheerleaders, geeks and jocks scattered, alike. And when the star receiver got in her way, she didn't hesitate to lay him flat.

She didn't give a damn who saw her panties.

 

***

 

Naturally, Willow didn't just fall into her lap.

But that was okay. Willow had been hurt and Kennedy knew how to work hard for something she wanted.

So she did some recon.

She knew better than to approach Buffy, who was kinda on permanent Brassed Mode, not that Kennedy could blame her, really, but open to giving tips on the Willow-lovin', she wasn't.

Xander…kinda freaked her out. But then, ever since the Halloween she was stabbed by a boy in a pirate costume who suddenly became a real pirate with a _real_ sword she'd been wary of men with eye patches.

None of the other Potentials knew anything and Andrew…well, the less said about him, the better.

And Anya was scary as _hell_.

 

So finally, she went to Dawn.

After she sat through at least an hour's tirade on how great Tara was and how perfect Tara and Willow were together and how Kennedy would never replace Tara, she began to realize that she was learning everything she needed to know.

 

***

 

_Panting, Kennedy wiped the sweat from her brow as she opened her Watcher's office door._

"I'm ready to take my Level Three proficiency exam, whenever you want to schedule it."

"Kennedy," the Watcher grimaced, massaging his temples. "You won't be taking your Level Three proficiency exam."

Confused, Kennedy entered the office and shut the door.

"Why not? I've been training for ages and I know the skills—I'm better than I've ever been."

"Kennedy…I think we both know it's too late. You're…just too old to be activated, now."

Kennedy sank into a chair.

"Too old? I'm not. Look, I've done the training, I've done the studying…I'll be the best goddamn Slayer the world has ever seen—"

"Now, Kennedy, let's be realistic—"

"This **is** realistic." Agitated, she jumped to her feet and began to pace in the small office, before stopping to lean over the desk towards her Watcher. "I'm going to be a Slayer. Period. With or without you."

The Watcher sighed, heavily. "I see."

Heaving a sigh of her own, Kennedy turned to look out the window, arms across her chest.

"So how do we do this? I come here and train myself while you just…?"

"I will not be here."

Kennedy snorted. "Of course not."

"There's…another Potential, fourteen, and I've been offered the chance—"

"So, after all of this…you're just ditching me for a younger model, then?" Shaking her head, she muttered under her breath, "And here I thought I'd avoid that unpleasant cliché."

"I truly am sorry, Kennedy. You've been…an exceptional student and would have been an exceptional Slayer, if my opinion means anything, but…it's time to face the facts: it's just too late for you. And if I've any chance at Watching an active Slayer, this is it. I'd be a fool not to take it."

Kennedy closed her eyes as yet another dream was snatched away. Taking a deep breath, she walked, calmly, to the door, pausing for a moment to glance back at the man who would have been her Watcher, the man she'd looked up to, the man she'd **trusted**.

"Guess that makes us both fools, then."

 

***

 

The more she learned, the more she realized that the reason she wanted Willow so badly wasn't because she was beautiful, or smart or kind or funny or wickedly powerful on the witchy front—although hell, who wouldn't want a girl like that?—it was because Willow could do something that Kennedy desperately needed.

Willow could love.

And sure, Willow wasn't in love with her yet, and really, Kennedy had no guarantee that she ever would be, but—more than anyone she's ever known—Willow had the ability to love, the ability to open herself up to someone else.

It was what Kennedy needed; it was what she'd been needing…her whole life.

And she'd be damned if she'd let it slip away.

She couldn’t make Willow love her, but she was going to do everything in her power to make it happen.

She knew what she wanted, and she was going to get it.

 

High water or Hellmouth.

 

 

_FIN_.

 

Originally archived [here](http://snowpuppies.livejournal.com/189702.html).


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